12 September 2016

Celebrating Botswana - 11 Quick Facts About Botswana

September is a very important month in
the history of Botswana, I call it Botswana
Month. On the 30th September 1966 Botswana took its independence
from Britain, something worth celebrating indeed.

This year the country will be celebrating
50 years of independence, such a huge
milestone, and it has gone all out and when I say all out, I really mean
ALL OUT. Hundred millions of pulas have been invested in the celebration and
even hashtagging BOT50 (Botswana 50).

On my end, I have taken it upon myself to
celebrate my country too, I have vowed to take pictures of myself in colours of
Botswana flag (Blue Black & White) and share a few facts about BOTSWANA for
the next 30 days.

As at Sunday when I compiled this, I was
on day 11, therefore I will share 11 facts about Botswana.

1.Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa
bordering Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with a population of
approximately 2 million as at 2013.

2.Country: Botswana

Language: Setswana

Nationality: Motswana (singular) Batswana
(Plural)

Capital city: Gaborone

NB:English is the official language.
There is nothing like Botswananianits
Motswana or Batswana

3.Botswana won its first
commonwealth Gold medal in 2010 through Amantle Montsho a 400m runner and its
first Olympic Medal through Nijel Amos in the 800m, he snatched the Silver.

4.The Botswana flag was
officially adopted on September 30, 1966. The colours on the flag correspond to
those on the national coat of arms. The BLUE represents water, the
white-black-white bands depict the racial harmony of the people as well as the
pluralist nature of the society.– World Atlas

5.At the time of
independence in 1966, Botswana was a member of the Rand Monetary Area (RMA) and
the South African rand served as the national currency. On the 6th
of September 1974, Botswana withdrew from the RMA and adopted its own currency,
Pula (meaning ‘rain’ or ‘blessings’) as the basic unit made up of 100 thebe
(‘shield’) –
Bank of Botswana

6.Botswana has one of
Africa’s most competitive and advanced banking systems. Generally adhering to
global standards in the transparency of financial policies and banking
supervision, the financial sector provides ample access to credit for
entrepreneurs –Africa.com

7.Botswana is home to the
Okavango Delta in the northwest of the country - one of the largest inland
deltas in the world, spanning 17,000km2 – an area almost the size of Wales. The
Okavango Delta became the 1000th inscribed site on the World Heritage List of
Unesco on the 22nd of June 2014” - Unesco

8.Botswana is also a home
of The Makgadikgadi pans, one of the largest salt pan areas in the world,
stretching over an area of 12.000 km2 -the size of Portugal. It forms part of
the Kalahari Basin. – Botswana Tourism

9.Botswana is a wealthy
country by African standards. It contains extensive mineral resources such as
the Jwaneng Diamond Mine, the richest in the world, which was found when
termites pushed specks of diamond to the surface. –Activity Village

10.Gaborone (Capital City) was built from scratch
starting in 1964, when the capital of Bechuanaland was moved from Mafikeng (in
present day South Africa) to Gaborone. Most of the city was built within three
years. - Wikipedia

11.The world’s second-biggest gem quality
diamond ever recovered was mined in Botswana, the gem is called Lesedi
La Rona - meaning Our Light. It is the largest diamond in more than a century